HIST 215 American Legal and Constitutional History

This course examines the relationship between American law and American history from the European settlement of North America to the beginning of the 21st century.  Examining legal institutions, legal processes, and legal culture over a long time span, the course offers insight into the changing relationship between power and the people in the United States. Because one semester is too brief a time to cover every subject in American legal and constitutional history, this course examines specific issues or episodes that demonstrate particularly well the close relationship between law and history. These include such topics as early witch trials, the laws of slavery, Native American dispossession, the evolution of marriage law, economic regulation, and the emergence of the right to privacy.

Survey Requirement Met: United States